Greater Manchester alcohol-free non-profit launches

Oldhamers who want to cut down, stop drinking or explore life without alcohol beyond Dry January can do so thanks to a free sober social event taking place next month.

Sober Rebel Society has officially launched across Greater Manchester, including Oldham, and local residents are invited to join. 

Up-to-date and verified alcohol-related statistics for the borough according to the Oldham Drug & Alcohol Needs Assessment (published 2022), shows the town has a rate of 3.58 adults per 1,000 (aged 18-75) in alcohol-only treatment, which is higher than the England average. 

Alcohol-related hospital admissions in Oldham were recorded at 681 per 100,000 population, based on NHS hospital episode statistics for 2020-2021, placing Oldham above the England average. 

The event will be held at Hinterland, Manchester’s alcohol-free bar and café, on Saturday, February 28, 2026, with free entry and complimentary alcohol-free drinks.  

It aims to bring together people who are sober, sober-curious or simply looking for social spaces that don’t revolve around alcohol. 

Sober Rebel Society is headquartered in Greater Manchester but operates nationally, offering free peer support, community connection and sober-friendly spaces for people who feel isolated or unsupported in a culture dominated by drinking. 

The launch comes as alcohol harm remains a significant issue in Greater Manchester.  

For the organisation’s founder, Manchester-based Nicky Wake (53), the launch is deeply personal.  

For years, Nicky (pictured above) was drinking heavily while running a business and raising her son, Finn, often disguising how much she was drinking. She would sometimes start before breakfast and regularly drink multiple bottles of wine a day. 

Her drinking escalated after her husband Andy suffered a sudden and catastrophic heart attack at home in 2017. While their son called 999, Nicky performed CPR, believing Andy was dying in front of her. As soon as paramedics arrived, she went straight to the kitchen and drank a full bottle of wine, unable to process the shock any other way. 

Andy (pictured below with Nicky) survived, but with devastating brain damage. He was placed in an induced coma and later moved into specialist care. For two weeks, Nicky sat at his hospital bedside smuggling vodka into the ward in a Diet Coke bottle, drinking constantly while doctors tried to save him. 

When Andy eventually woke, he could no longer walk, talk or recognise her. He spent the next three years in care before dying from Covid-related complications in 2020. During that period, and particularly through lockdown, Nicky’s drinking spiralled further as she tried to cope with grief, isolation and exhaustion. 

Despite this, she continued running her business and told herself she could not be “that bad” because she was still functioning. Privately, her health was failing and she was often waking with no memory of how she had got to bed. 

After several failed attempts to quit alone, Nicky reached crisis point in November 2024, when she tried to stop drinking and ended up in A&E with severe panic attacks. She checked herself into rehab and completed a medical detox. She has now been sober for 14 months. 

Since getting sober, Nicky first launched SoberLove, a dating and friendship app for people who are sober or sober-curious.  

Sober Rebel Society is the next chapter, a Greater Manchester-based non-profit community designed to provide year-round peer support, meetings and sober social spaces for anyone who wants to live without alcohol. 

Nicky Wake said, “Sober Rebel Society exists because I couldn’t find a space that felt real, human and without judgement when I needed it most.  

“I was offered labels and rigid programmes, but none of it reflected how messy and complicated my real life was. I wanted to create something different.  

“This Manchester event is just the start of that, a place where people can turn up, connect and feel welcome without alcohol at the centre. 

“At my lowest point, I was drinking from morning to night and hiding bottles around my house. I looked fine on the outside, but I wasn’t fine at all. I was running a business, raising my son and getting through the day, but inside I was completely lost. Alcohol was how I coped with stress and grief, and eventually it became what I was trying to bury myself with. 

“Dry January can be a start, but real change happens every day after that. I’ve now been sober for 14 months. I laugh again. My son has his mum back. If even one person in Greater Manchester feels less alone because of this community or this event, it’s already made a difference.” 

Recent public health data shows that alcohol-specific death rates across Greater Manchester are higher than the England average, with the region showing pronounced inequalities between boroughs.  

Alcohol-related hospital admissions continue to place sustained pressure on local health services, with rates rising across most Greater Manchester local authorities in 2023–24. 

Nationally, the scale of alcohol harm remains substantial. In 2023–24, England recorded over one million alcohol-related hospital admissions under the government’s broad definition, underlining the ongoing impact on individuals, families and communities.  

At the same time, attitudes to drinking are increasingly polarised. In 2024, 36% of UK adults reported drinking alcohol less than monthly or not at all, while 13% said they drank four or more times a week, highlighting a widening gap between those stepping away from alcohol and those drinking more frequently. By late 2025, 44% of UK adults reported choosing low or no-alcohol alternatives as part of efforts to moderate their drinking, reflecting a growing shift towards alcohol-free and alcohol-reduced lifestyles. 

For more information, to join Sober Rebel Society, or to sign up for the free Manchester alcohol-free event, visit www.SoberRebelSociety.com